Displacement Geometry

[Sanada]

In my map I'm making I'm planning on using a lot of Displacement Geometry to create a cliff like scene around the map. What I'm fearing is that it'll possible cause FPS issues. I'm using it to the power of 2 to reduce the possibilty and the detail isn't really needed anyway.

Valve say in a document I read that Displaments render faster than brushes. I dunno if that means they use less resources either.

I'd use regular brushes but there isn't a lot besides boxy cliffs I could make for scenery. Are Displacements ok to use in large but not crazy amounts?

 

[Fender357]

You shouldn't have any problem with large displacements. Just as long as they don't get to extreme with your displacements. Like hightening or lowering a single point on a displacement a whole bunch, you'll get some errors if you do that.

 

[The Dark Elf]

In my map I'm making I'm planning on using a lot of Displacement Geometry to create a cliff like scene around the map. What I'm fearing is that it'll possible cause FPS issues. I'm using it to the power of 2 to reduce the possibilty and the detail isn't really needed anyway.

Valve say in a document I read that Displaments render faster than brushes. I dunno if that means they use less resources either.

I'd use regular brushes but there isn't a lot besides boxy cliffs I could make for scenery. Are Displacements ok to use in large but not crazy amounts?

Displacements don't block vis though, stick brushes inside them to do that.

 

[Sanada]

Thanks for the advice.

Do I just stick a brush underneith the Displament map to make the VIS work? I've heard that if you don't do it properly you'll get something called a "leak"?

 

[The Dark Elf]

Thanks for the advice.

Do I just stick a brush underneith the Displament map to make the VIS work? I've heard that if you don't do it properly you'll get something called a "leak"?

well every displacement has to be inside your map boundries.. So in your case you'd have the sky brushes, and then below that a brush with nodraw material, effectively enclosing your whole map. Providing all your entities and displacements are within that, and its completely sealed, you'll not have any problems with leaks from that.

Then when you make your displacement surfaces, the cliffs and such. go through them and put brushes inside. Just simple ones, but imagine your making your map from regular brushes in a very blocky style. That way the engine when the map is run, see's through the displacements, but then see's the brush just inside it, so doesn't attempt to draw things you can't see. Without that, the displacement surfaces are ignored and while you see them, and you and other objects collide with them, the engine see's right through them and would continue to draw everything behind them.

Check out some of the example maps, the coast one, it shows how Valve did it with brushes inside some displacement terrain to speed things up. I didn't even know you could/should do that until I saw those maps.

 

[Sanada]

OK, I understand what you mean now. Thanks.